Rachael Bowen Debbie Wikstrom Introduction to Philosophy 2 Dec.

2012 The Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Gandhi, later widely known as his holy name Mahatma (Great Soul) Gandhi, was born October 2, 1869. He was born in Porbander, an Indian city in the state of Gujarat. His parents were well off although both lacked education, despite his father being a profoundly moral politician. His mother was illiterate but is said to have been devout in her religion and Hindu practices, a quality that later played a highly influential role in the path that Gandhi chose for his life (Deats). In fact, Gandhi described his memory of her as that of saintliness (Essential). Gandhi had three other siblings, and of them, he was the youngest. His oldest brother was born in 1862 and his name was Raliatben. His other siblings were his brother Laxmidas born in 1863 and his sister Karsandas born in 1866 (Marcello, 1). While he grew to be a very successful in many ways, Gandhi originally struggled in school particularly in the social aspects; a side of him not very often seen in his later years. He was quite shy and did not reach out to other students but rather ran directly home after classes. Gandhi married at the young age of thirteen to Kasturba Makanji, who was also thirteen. Their marriage was arranged as child marriage was quite common at the time. The marriage of Gandhi and Kasturba, in the sense of their ages at the time, actually surpassed that of most child marriages in India as the many young girls were married off by their fathers at just the age of eight. While their marriage struggled greatly at times as Gandhi adjusted to being a husband, even at his seemingly older age, their marriage grew to be strong and filled with an unconditional compassionate love (Marcello, 6). In 1888, at the age of almost nineteen and just a few months after the birth of his and Kasturbas first son Harilal, Gandhi set sail for England in hopes of studying law, reluctantly, and partaking in a three year law course told to him by a family friend. His boat ride was entirely miserable, hungry and quite lonely due once again to his shy manner. Once in England, others of Indian decent helped him adjust to English norms. He adjusted quite well after overcoming the blandness of Western foods that lacked the spice known in India. He began to dress the role of an English man and even go as far to take violin and dance lessons, but soon decided that England would not be a country he would be spending more significant portions of his life in and that he needed to better focus on his studies of the law (Deats, 19-20). June 10, 1891 Gandhi passed the bar exams for law and sailed back to his home country of India just two days later only to find that, despite his well doing in college and great testing ability, he was not ready to represent Indian clients as he lacked the knowledge of his peoples own history and the laws surrounding Hinduism and the Muslims. When offered an opportunity to travel and work in South Africa by Dada Abdulla & Co., a Porbandar Muslim firm, he accepted with the intentions of creating a fresh start for himself and his career entirely. It was 1893 when Gandhi moved to South Africa to a city that is known as Durban. The city population was largely Indian, but this did not stop the persistent racism that Gandhi first encountered while transporting to his case in Pretoria (Deats, 23-24). After being forcibly removed from a train due to his color where he was riding first class, Gandhi sat and pondered his options. Should he even fulfill his case? Would he be a coward to return to India without tending to his obligations? He decided to continue on to Pretoria, taking the first train he could (Gandhi). When he arrived in Pretoria, he held a meeting with the other Indian citizens and described to them the injustices that they had been wrongfully subjected to. He made a promise to the people that he would help them in gaining equality (Deats, 24).

Indians were inarguably treated as second class citizens in South Africa. They were made to carry passes and could be removed forcibly from the sidewalks to make way for any white citizen. They were segregated and taxed based on their race and could not even own the land in these racebased neighborhoods (Deats, 24). While Gandhi continued to work as a lawyer, he also became known to the Indian people and other minorities in South Africa as a bit of leader; one who could address them and present realistic and well thought out ways of taking steps to resolving the issues of racism that they had been dealing with as a people for so long. One of these accomplishments was the gathering of ten thousand signatures that resulted in the vetoing of a bill that would have prevented Indians from having the right to vote (Deats, 25). After returning to India shortly in 1896 to retrieve his family and bring them to live in South Africa with him while he continued his mission of serving the people there, he developed an ambulance corps to help serve the British on the field of battle because he felt that it was their duty, as the people, to show such mercy and aid. He recalled the experience to be horrifying due to the treatment of the Zulus, who the British were at battle with, by the British themselves. It was this experience that led Gandhi to serving humanity only and not the evil that he found in such cooperation (Deats, 25-26). Gandhi spoke on many issues such as the Indian belief of a caste system, which he thought to be quite wrong and he expressed his desire to treat all equally by partaking in the roles formerly known to be completed only by the untouchables such as emptying the latrine. While Kasturba was not fond of this, at the age 37, he expressed his desire to relinquish all urges and become entirely celibate; a lifestyle that consists of living minimally in all aspects. Kasturba agreed to this lifestyle choice willingly, and they began living a life of complete simplicity. Gandhi ate only enough to fulfill his hunger and he fasted often for purity. All other material wants and desires were gone; his life was devoted to seeing God face to face (Deats, 28-29). December 19, 1914 Gandhi returned to India in poor health. He then began to continue his work, spreading the word of non-violence but resistance to the oppression occurring in India under British rule. It was here in India upon his return and servitude to the people that he was granted the name of Mahatma, which meant Great Soul. As he spread his own word of peace and change, word began to spread about him as well and he gained popularity and even fame. Such gains added weight to his political influence (BIO). Gandhi was soon leading the Indian National Congress and used such status to begin organizing Indias independence from Britain. Such independence was made possible by peaceful yet effective methods such as boycotting British goods and only purchasing needed items from Indian merchants. When a tax on salt was introduced, Gandhi led the people in a march to the shore which covered two hundred and fifty miles where they began to produce their own salt, despite it being illegal as private creation of the product did not allow a tax to be implemented. Despite Gandhis defiance to the British, he had such a prevalent political status that the British had no choice but negotiate with him on several important issues in India during such a time which resulted in the alleviation of poverty, granted status to the untouchables, enshrined rights for women, and led inexorably to Ghandis goal of Swaraj; political independence from Britain (BIO). Over the course of Gandhis endeavors, he faced a few incarcerations, but the most important of all of his time behind bars was that in 1942-1944 where, while incarcerated, Kasturba, who was also incarcerated in the same prison, died of a heart attack in February of 1944 only three months before Gandhis own release. Amongst such incarcerations, Gandhi also faced many attempts on his life, primarily by that of Nathuram Godse who attempted several times, once being with a dagger shortly after Gandhis release and his wifes unexpected death (BIO). Despite these attempts on Gandhis life, he continued on in his work in India. After Indias independence from Britain, tension began to grow between the Muslim and Indian populations which resulted in what was predicted to be the onset of a developing Civil War. The country of India had escaped from Britains discriminating rule only to be divided amongst itself and its own peoples. In the midst of the growing battles among the people, Gandhi agreed to a separation of their nation into India and Pakistan, Pakistan being the Muslims territory. India celebrated their

complete independence on August 15, 1947. However, the excitement quickly faded when the Indian people did not agree with the payment to Pakistan from India for any damaged territories during the battles, despite it being a condition outlined in India and Pakistans partition agreement (BIO). Gandhi fasted to gather the attention of the India people and demonstrate the important of this agreed upon payment. Such an act brought about controversy and groups that had previously partaken in Anti-Gandhi movements were plagued with hatred. Such a decision on Gandhis part resulted in another, leading up to the final, attempt on his life. While the now fifth attempt on Gandhis life ended in failure and the imprisonment of a few members of the group attempting to take Gandhis life, but their leader was not captured; Nathuram Godse (BIO). Ten days later, while Gandhi was on his way to a prayer meeting, Godse finally succeeded in his attempt to assassinate him on January 30, 1948. Godse approached Gandhi in the crowd and, after purchasing an automatic gun, proceeded to shoot him in the chest three times. Gandhis death resulted in celebrations amongst many of the people who held angers toward him due to his unconditional love of all people, while they harbored only hate for the Muslim people. His body was cremated due to his Hindu religious beliefs and placed at the site of his wifes death. His murderer was convicted and sentenced to death, which occurred November 15, 1949 (BIO). In conclusion, I chose Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi because I have always possessed an interest in his life after enjoying several of his quotes over time. A more important factor in my actually deciding to research Gandhi was that I had just recently viewed the movie Gandhi which is over three hours in length and went into great detail on Gandhis life and his views and accomplishments. It was a fantastic film and it only sparked the already existing interest that I had for Gandhi even more. While Gandhi is not ones typical philosopher, it is my belief that he was simply a philosophical man, particularly in his writings and his teachings. While he originally chose to follow a path of structure and supposed responsibility, he followed his own path and took on a much greater responsibility dedicating his life to helping the people around him and spreading the word of his own philosophy: love, acceptance and non-violence. His pure beliefs and his absolute dedication to the life that he felt he was meant to lead are philosophical inspiration all on their own.

Works Cited BIO. "Mahatma Gandhi Biography." Mahatma Gandhi. AETN UK, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2012. Deats, Richard. "The Early Years." Mahatma Gandhi: Non-Violent Liberator . New York: New City, 2005. Print. Gandhi, Mohandas K., Krishna Kripalani, and S. Radhakrishnan. All Men Are Brothers. New York: Columbia University, 1958. Print. Gandhi, Mohandas. The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Life, Work, and Ideas . Ed. Louis Fischer. New York: Vintage, 1983. Print. Marcello, Patrica C. Mohandas K. Gandhi: A Biography . West Port: Greenwood, 2006. Print.